You Owe Me
by Crazy Hyper Lady
Summary: Ichigo learns something interesting about his father and can't wait to tell Hitsuguya. Guest appearance by Ukitake! based on comment from the forums by my Ukitake-fan buddy MarHeavenAngel


Inspired by a comment made by my Ukitake-fan buddy MarHeavenAngel in the forums. Ichigo finds out something very interesting about his father, and can't wait to tell Toshirou.

I do not own Bleach… if I did Ukitake would get more camera/manga time… just because he's so awesome.

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"Ichigooooooooo!!!!" Isshin flew down the stairs at near-mach speeds with a foot outstretched, fully intending to kick his son's head through the door that had just closed behind the orange-haired high-school student.

It ended up the same way it always did, of course: with Isshin's foot through the door instead.

"Hey old man," was the typical unfazed greeting.

"What did I do to deserve this!?" Isshin started his daily ritual of weeping underneath the large memorial poster of Masaki.

Just another normal day in the Kurosaki household.

"Kurosaki-san!" a voice sounded from the door at dinner time and all four Kurosaki family members looked up and headed to the door. Urahara's face was visible in the hole left by Isshin's foot.

"Dad!" Yuzu admonished, having not seen the hole before, "what did I say about this!?"

"How did you know that it was me?" Isshin was guiltily backing up against a wall.

"Because I know Ichi-ni wouldn't!"

Ichigo and Karin ignored them, "What do you want, Hat n' Clogs?" Ichigo asked bluntly.

"Actually, Kurosaki-san, I needed Kurosaki Isshin-san's help… but you could come along if you wanted, the more the merrier as the saying goes," he grinned, still looking through the hole.

"Oi! Yuzu!" Karin said, "he needs dad, let him go for now."

Yuzu had their father backed up to the wall with a spoon in his face, but she sighed and stepped down, "you're going to fix this when you get home."

"Yes, Yuzu-chan," he replied meekly and he hurried to the door, nearly slamming it in Ichigo's face in his haste to escape.

"Hey, Old man, how do you know Hat n' Clogs?"

"Oh, Isshin-san and I go way back, Kurosaki-san. But I'm afraid this isn't merely a social visit," both Kurosaki men got serious.

"What is it, Urahara?" Isshin asked.

"Your body is deteriorating your spirit, Isshin," Urahara explained as they arrived at his shop.

Ichigo was about to ask a question but Isshin held up a hand to cut him off, "How long do I have?"

"I only realized it a few days ago and I've already begin the process of making a new, more stable one for you. That one should be ready in about a week, but you need to get out of the one you're in, I figured it would be better to do it here, so you didn't scare your little girls."

Isshin nodded and turned to his son, "Ichigo," this was a rare serious moment so Ichigo let him talk, "I probably should have told you this a long time ago."

A second later Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief as his father's gigai dropped to the floor. Therein lay his disbelief. Gigai. Which meant…

Ichigo's eyes roamed over the shinigami robes that seemed to just _fit_ on his father, like they'd belonged there all along. The tie on his father's arm caught his eye next. He followed the white fabric hanging off of it to the bottom. The pattern there… he'd seen it somewhere before.

"This is the truth, son."

"So… you… you've…" Ichigo was too stunned to speak.

"I've known about you and your adventures from the beginning, Urahara has kept me updated. We served as taichou at the same time, after all."

"Taichou!?" That's where the pattern was from. It was at the bottom of all the taichou haori he'd seen in Soul Society.

Urahara broke in with an uncaring tone and grin, "Oh! Kurosaki-san, would you mind going back to tell your sisters that your father is going on a week-long business trip?"

Ichigo, both men could see, was debating between screaming, laughing, and lashing out violently in their general direction for keeping this a secret from him, but at the mention of his sisters his demeanor softened slightly and he left with only a parting glare the clearly said 'we talk about this when I get back or someone dies'.

-

Ichigo was at one of his regular reports in Seiretei, he glanced toward Hitsuguya with a smirk for the umpteenth time. The room temperature dropped another couple of degrees.

After everyone else had left the room, Hitsuguya stalked up to Ichigo, "What do you want?" he bit out.

"Oh… nothing, Toshirou."

"That's Hitsuguya-taichou to you!" Then after another smirk from the orange-haired teenager: "What is it!?"

"I found out something interesting since we last met. You inherited your division from my old man."

Hitsuguya could only stare for a moment, "what?"

"My old man was the previous taichou of the tenth division, and his stepping down was what made it able for you to get your role as taichou. He left to stay in the human world with my mom… if it weren't for her and me… you wouldn't have this seat. So… in a way… you owe me your position."

The air itself seemed to freeze as Hitsuguya glared up at the taller shinigami.

"Hitsuguya-taichou!" a cheerful voice broke the tension. They turned to see Ukitake at the doorway with a large grin on his face.

Ichigo noted with satisfaction that the younger taichou's eyes darted about for an escape route that was nowhere to be found.

"Yo, Ukitake," Ichigo half-saluted with two fingers in greeting.

"Ichigo-san!" the white-haired man's eyes brightened in response and he walked toward the two, "here, you can have some too!" Ichigo suddenly found his hands full of small, brightly-colored, wrapped candies, "don't worry, Hitsuguya-san, I have more," Ichigo sniggered as Hitsuguya was suddenly overloaded with candy boxes and wrapped treats nearly up to his neck.

"Thank you, Ukitake-taichou," the air was nearly back to normal room temperature again when Hitsuguya beat a hasty retreat from the room.

"So long, Ichigo-san," Jyuushirou waved as Ichigo stepped through the gate behind him.

As soon as he was gone Jyuushirou breathed a sigh of relief and Shunsui stepped through the door.

"Did it work?" he asked casually.

"Barely," Jyuushirou replied, "it was close. Nearly a repeat of last time." The entire building had been frozen over the last little conversation between Ichigo and Hitsuguya.

"Good thing Jyuu-chan's such a good negotiator," Shunsui lifted the brim of his hat with a look that Jyuushirou knew well, "let's celebrate with a drink!"

Jyuushirou laughed and led the way out of the room.

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W00t!! And that's a wrap! There was always a secret meaning behind the treats. Jyuushirou was just protecting everyone from the horrible fate of ending up like a shinigami popsicle. He's so amazing… :D

Also, I barely went over this at all so it's probably riddled with mistakes... so just leave a review (HINT HINT) and tell me about them ;) (HINT)


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